Apparatus for making artificial ice.



0. H. JEWELL.

APPARATUS POR MAKING ARTIPIGIAL ICE.

APPLIUATION FILED A?B.8, 1908.

" Paieut July 26, V1910.

o. H. JEWBLL. APPARATUS POR MAKING ARTIFICIAL ICE.

APPLICATION FILED APB.8, 1908.

0. H. JEWELL.

APPARATUS POR MAKING ARTIFICIAL ICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.8, 1908.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Pand July 26, WW.

o. H; JEWBLL.

APPARATUS POR MAKING ARTIFICIAL ICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.8, 1908.

Patented July 26, 1910.

I SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Larf/4,52

UMAR H. JEWELL, 0F CHICAGC, ILLINOIS, .ISSIGNDR T0 POLAR ICE MACHINE COM- IPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION 0F ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS non manine AnrrricrAL Ion.

enanas.

patented .nay a, rio.

Application led April 8, I908. `Serial No. 425,878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OMAR II. JEWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and- Stateof Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Apparatus for Making Artificial Ice, ofl which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawin s.

/Iy invention relates to the art of making artificial ice and, generically considered, has to do with the manufacture of ice by causing the water to be frozen, while in a suitable container, to freeze toward a portion of the container wherethe water is maintained in an unfrozen condition, the water being meanwhile agitated to keep the' impurities therein free from entanglement with the forming ice crystals and permit them to remain separate from the mass of ice. Pure and clear ice may in this way be made from raw water without the use of heat or chemical reagents for purification.

purposes. IIeretofore it has been proposed to agitata the water for the purpose stated by means of mechanical agitators, but the use of such agitators -is objectionable, andit is one of the objects of my present invention to provide an improved apparatus by which the use of such mechanical ,agitators is avoided without in any way impairing its efficiency.

A further object is to provide for freezing blocks of ice of lcommercial size in containers large enough to permit of freezing a number of such blocks at one time, meanwhile securin all the advantages of th process herein efore referred to. 1

I accomplish these objects as illustrated in the accompanying drawings and as hereinafter described. 'A

What I regard as new is set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 is a plan view, illustrating one form of my improved apparatus; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section thereof on line 2--2 of Fig. l; Fig. 3;,is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. l; Fig.' 4t is a section on line dell of Fig. l; Fig.` 5'is a plan view, showing certain features of my invention applied to smaller receptacles each adapted to contain sutiicient water to form a block of ice of commercial size; Fig. 6 is a section on line 6?-'6 of Fig. 5;-Fig. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of Figg; Fig. 8 is a section on line 8 8 of Fig. 5;.and Fig. 9 is a erspective view, showing one end portion o one of the air inlet pipes. Y

The method which the apparatus illustrated is designed to carry out, lconsists in causing the water to be frozen, while in a suitable container, to freeze-toward a side or portion thereof where `the Water is maintained in an unfrozen condition, meanwhile agitating the water by causing currents of airl to pass upward through the water adjacent to that portion of the container whichis maintained at a non-freezin or relatively non-freezing temperature. uch method also includes the introduction of airinto the bottom of an elongated receptacle at intervals, thereby establishing zones in the re'- ceptacle which have the eect of keeping unfrozen the water in-such zones and in that waysecure the freezing of the water inthestantially separate blocks of 1`ce,--the result being that a plurality of separate blocks of ice are produced in a sin le continuousreceptacleV having no partitions lor division plates.

Iteferrin now to the drawings for a description 0I the apparatus therein -shown,- 10 indicates a `tank adapted to contain the several parts of the apparatus...and' also to serve as a receptacle for brine or other freezing liquid. Saidtanlr is made of any suitable material and is preferably rectangular in shape and is provided near the inner end with two partitions 11-12 preferably arranged in parallelism, which are connected with the walls of the tank at the bottom and one end only, thus serving ,as ba -plates to olllirect the circulation of the brine in the tan Y l--lll-l--lt indicate four tanlrs 'adapt-J ed to contain thewater to be frozen. rllhese tanks-which for convenience I'shall term .tanks are of a width equal to the thickness' of a commercial cake of ice and as illustrated are about four times as long as the width of such cake of ice. llwo of such roo Y Imi tanks are lpreferably provided at'each end of the tardif-that is to say, betweenfeach p ofthe partitions 11-12 and the adjacent end of the tank` 10 `Said tanks 13-11- 15-16 are set a distance apart from the side 'and endwalls of the tank 10 so that brine may freely circulate around them, but

the bottoms of said tanks are exposed to a i l equi-distant apart,-the distance separatin 15l the several trou hs being substantially equa to the width o a commercial cake of ice.

v The troughs are open at the top, as shown in Fig. 2, and are provided with transverse pipes 18y which are perforated preferably at the top, as shown 1n Fig. 9, to'permit the escape of air therefrom. Said plpes 18 are branches of mainI pipes'19 which connect with an air pipe 20, as shown in Fi 1. By this arrangement air may. be admltted to the several troughs 17 and may then enter the several tanks 13, 14, 15 and 16 at the bottom4 and rise through them. It will be noted that as' the pipes 17 extend t'ransversely of the several ice tanks the air escaping from them will rise in vertical planes or. zones through the water in the ice tanks andconsequentlycause the water in said tanks to circulate. Moreover, the air being warmer than lthe brine will serve to keep the water'adjacent to such lzones warmer than the remainder of the water inthe ice tanks `and consequently keep unfrozen the water in such zones, the result being that the operation of freezin will progress toward such zones, beginning at the sides of the ice tanks which are directly exposed to the brine as hereinafter described.

21 indicates a series of ammonia pipes connected with an inlet pipe 22 and an outlet pipe 23 so that ammonia may circulate therethrough. The arrangement is such that by causing the ammonia, or, other freezing medium, to ow through the coil of pipes 21 the brine may be reduced tothe proper temperature'. to .effect the freezing of the water contained in the-several' ice tanks.

. The brine in the tankwl is caused to circulate by means of a pump 24, preferably of the centrifugal type and driven from any suitable source of power,'as by a shaft 25,-'- said pum bein connected with the end portions of t e tan 10 by pipes 264.-,-27 through Y which brine renters said tank and by a pipe 28 lthrough.which the brine is drawn into the pump. Partitions 29 are provided adjacentto the openings of the pipes 26-27 into the tank 10, as shown in Fig. 1, to compel the brine'to properly flow through said tank. Also partitions 30 are provided at the opposite side of the tank for the same purpose,-the object bein to provide a circuitous path which the rine must follow so as to pro erly subject all arts of the ice tanks to t e influence o the freezing medium.

In operation the air is admit yed to the ice tanks in the transverse zones described while the water in 4said tanks is subjected to the action of the cold brine, the result, as has already been suggested, being that ice is first caused to form next to the sides of the ice tanks, the formation of ice gradually progressing toward` the centers of saiffv tanks and also toward the warmer `zones in which the air admitted through the transverse pipes 18 rises. During the freezing operation the water is caused to circulate by the passage of the air therethrough, thereby maintaining sulicient movement therein to prevent .the impurities separated from the water lodging in the forming mass of ice or becoming entangled with the ice crystals. The operation continues until the ice cakes have attained to a sufficient size when the circulation ofthe brine is stopped and the ice cakes removed. The operation is not carried far enough to permit the cakes of ice in any one tank to unite, except perhaps to a limited extentr-the object being to preserve unfrozen zones between the several blocks or cakes in which the impurities may be accumulated.

In the construction shown in Figs. 5 to 8 I have illustrated an apparatus which embodies many of the features employed in the earlier figures, but differs therefrom in that the cakes of ice are frozen in separate receptacles. In the construction therein shown I provide a brine tank 31 which is similar to the tank 10 and is in like manner provided with partitions 32-33, wit-h` an ammonia coil 34 and a ump 35 for causing the brine to circulate. }Instead, however, of employing the lon ice tanks arranged to contain a plurality o blocks of ice, I rovide two series of small tanks 36 each o a size adapted to contain a single block of ice, said tanks being connected by partitions 37, as shown in Flg. 5. Baiiie-plates 38 are also provided to directl the iow of brine around the-several ice tanks.

The bottoms of the several tanks l3 6 are exposed to a nonefreezing temperature and are provided with pockets 39 at each end, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6,'and said ockets are provided with air pipes 40 for ischargin air thereinto, said pipes being connecte l with main pipes 41, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. By this arrangement the water in the end portions of the .several tanks 36 is kept agi..

tated and in an unfrozen condition wlth the results already described.

comprising a suitable container Vadapted to receive the Water to be frozen, means at the sides of said container adapted to contain a freezing medium, a receptacle below said container, said receptacle being open at the top -and lying in a plane below that of the freezing medium, and means. for introducing air into said receptacle.

2. An apparatus for making artificial ice,

comprising a suitable container adapted to receive the Water to be frozen, means at the sides ofsaid container 'adapted to contain a freezing medium, a plurality of receptacles arranged at intervals .below said'contai'ner, said receptacles being open at the top and 4 lying in a plane belowthat of the freezing medium, and means for introducing air-into said receptacle or receptacles.

3. An apparatus for making artificial ice, comprising a suitable container adapted to receive the water to be frozen, means at the sides'of said container adapted to contain a freezing medium, a plurality of receptacles `arranged atintervals below said container, said receptacles being open at the top and lying in a plane below that of the freezing" rnedium, and an external air pipe for introducing air into said receptacle or receptacles.

OMARH. JEWELL.

` Witnesses:

JOHN L. JACKSON,

MINNIE A. HUNTER. 

